Giant Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart – Gluten-Free and Vegan

Calling all pop tart enthusiasts! Super-size your childhood breakfast favorite with this giant brown sugar cinnamon pop tart that’s both gluten-free and vegan! It has all of the flavors of the classic, just bigger and tastier! A buttery, golden crust filled with a sweet cinnamon filling and frosted with a cinnamon glaze. Slice it up and share with your friends!

I think we all have fond memories of certain childhood foods. Pop tarts were personally a breakfast favorite of mine growing up. Unwrapping the foil pouches, placing them in the toaster, and impatiently waiting for the brown sugar cinnamon smell to waft through the kitchen.

Warm, sweet, crunchy. Even though they were slightly reminiscent of cardboard looking back, I can’t help to crave one of those brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts every now and then.

Since my celiac disease diagnosis, I haven’t had one. But, every once in awhile, I feel myself longing and craving for a bite of this childhood favorite. I often look at different toaster pastries at the grocery store waiting for one to pop up. Yes… there are gluten-free ones.

But my body still has a hard time tolerating dairy and eggs, probably still lasting effects of my damaged intestines from years of eating gluten. Every single toaster pastry or pop tart I can find at the store ALWAYS has eggs or dairy in it.

So it’s about time I’ve made my own! I was so excited to finally eat a pop tart that I decided to go BIG. I mean real BIG. Like a giant pop tart sized big.

YES! I made a GIANT brown sugar cinnamon pop tart AND I made it gluten-free AND vegan. Best decision I’ve made in awhile, let me tell you.

While it may seem a bit extra to make a giant pop tart, it also makes sense. A giant pop tart is basically just a pie, with more crust to filling ratio. Plus, I am sometimes kind of lazy and I figure if I don’t have to individually cut out rectangles of pastry, fill them all individually, and crimp all of the sides…. I won’t. I’m a bit of lazy baker at times, which leads to great things like giant pop tarts.

You can certainly make these into individual pop tarts if you wish, too. I fully support that decision too. Just make sure to shorten the bake time so they don’t burn. But really… isn’t it kind of fun to serve a giant pop tart for brunch?

In my quest to make this giant gluten-free vegan pop tart, I tested this recipe SIX times. Honestly… it was pretty great on the first try. But I wanted to be sure that it would work every single time so that you guys wouldn’t have trouble making it too.

My coworkers certainly enjoyed each of the recipe experimentations that I brought into the office. I needed some people that can actually still eat pop tarts to tell me if these babies tasted like the real deal. I’m so happy to say that most said they tasted even BETTER than the packaged pop tarts!

Tips and Tricks for Making a Giant Pop Tart

You want the butter (or dairy-free butter in this case) to stay cold. I like to freeze mine before putting it into the food processor.

Roll out your rectangles of pastry dough and pop them into the freezer for at least 15-20 minutes. I think it is easier to handle the top layer without it breaking this way. If it breaks, that’s okay too. Just piece it back together. You’re covering it with frosting after all.

Poke LOTS of holes in the top before baking. The first time, I only cut a few holes in the top of the dough to let steam escape and my pastry puffed up a lot. The more holes the better in this case.

Let the pop tart cool before you place the glaze on top so it doesn’t run off the sides.

Entertaining for Brunch? Also Try These Other Gluten-Free Pastries

Brunch is one of those meals that is sometimes hard to make gluten-free. But serve this giant brown sugar cinnamon pop tart and your gluten-free brunch goers will love you to the moon and back.

Giant Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart Recipe

Who knew it could be so easy to make gluten-free and vegan pop tarts? You will love this tale on everyone’s childhood favorite. What’s better is we’re serving up a giant version – enough to serve 10 people!

Once you realize how easy it is to make this gluten-free treat, you’ll want to serve them for brunch all the time!

Giant Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts - Gluten-Free and Vegan

You'll love this take on a childhood classic! Pop tarts are made gluten-free and vegan in this giant brown sugar cinnamon pop tart recipe. Perfect for brunch and entertaining, just slice and share with your friends.

Cinnamon Glaze:

Instructions

In a food processor, add gluten-free flour, xanthan gum, salt and sugar and pulse to combine.

Add cold vegan butter and pulse until butter is the size of peas, with some bigger pieces.

Remove from food processor and place in a bowl, add in water one tablespoon at a time just until your able to pinch it together. You may not end up using all of the water.

Pat into a flat circle and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Once the dough is chilled, roll out into two rectangles about 8x11 inches each, about 1/4 inch in thickness. I like to place mine back into the freezer for 10 minutes for better handling.

Preheat oven to 350F.

To make the filling, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, gluten-free flour, melted vegan butter, and molasses in a bowl until a paste has formed.

Place one rectangle of pastry dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spoon filling onto the pastry and spread with a spatula, leaving about 1/2 inch border.

Place other rectangle of pastry dough on top of the filling. Gently press the edges closed with your fingers. Crimp all the way around with a fork.

Generously poke holes into the top of the pastry.

Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes, until the edges of the crust are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

While the pop tart is cooling, make the glaze. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, cinnamon, almond milk, and vanilla. Whisk until combined and no clumps remain. Spread over the pop tart and allow to dry completely before slicing and serving.

Hi Vanessa! If the gluten-free flour blend I’m using doesn’t already have xanthan gum in it, I tend to use Bob’s Red Mill xanthan gum or NOW Foods xanthan gum as that’s what I easily find available in my area.

Hi Teresa, Yes! You can definitely freeze these. I tend to like to either freeze before baking or freeze after baking but before putting on the glaze. Then you can just rewarm in the oven and then top with the glaze to serve if that makes sense. They do last a good 4-5 days at room temperature though. Hope this helps!

Hi Kris! I have tested it with regular butter as well, so I know that for sure works. I think the regular flour with the same measurements would work, but I haven’t tried it. The gluten-free flour blend that I use tends to work 1:1 with regular all-purpose flour though so I think you should be good to go. Enjoy!

Have you ever made the dough the night before? Do you think it would be good in the freezer or frig. Or do you think I could prepare it all and keep in the frig overnight and then I would just have to bake in the morning and add the glaze. I thought this would be a fun surprise on Christmas morning but definitely don’t wanna do all that work in the morning, LOL thanks

Hi Rayell! Yes, this can work! I’ve done it a few ways before. You can make the dough even a few weeks in advance and then place in the refrigerator for a few hours to thaw before rolling out and proceeding. Once you fill the pop tart you can freeze it again before baking. It may just take a few extra minutes to bake if you bake from frozen. Just bake until you get that nice golden brown color. Alternatively, you can bake ahead of time and freeze the baked pop tart and let thaw at room temperature or warm in the oven that morning. Then put the glaze on top. Hope this helps!

I made these yesterday and just let me say….WOW!! These are WAY better than any store bought junky pop tart!! The flaky crust paired with the brown sugar filling and frosting is just incredible! The crust to filling ration is perfection. My four boys have been begging me to make pop tarts for some time now and these have set the bar high. I plan on trying different flavor combos soon. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!